PAC: Finance Ministry must carry out 1MDB audit

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Finance must carry out an audit of 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) accounts for the financial year ending Mar 31 2015, immediately.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the audited accounts is crucial for the committee's probe into 1MDB.

"It is a hindrance and crucial to our investigation. However, it is not a dealbreaker," Nur Jazlan said on Thursday, adding that the committee's probe would continue as planned by calling the main witnesses in August.

Nur Jazlan said it was common practice for public listed companies to have their accounts audited by latest June, three months after the end of a financial year or risk action from Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission.

"It is common practice for GLCs and for one as important as 1MDB, it is crucial for them to have their accounts audited, even though they are not public listed," he told reporters after chairing a PAC hearing in Parliament.

"There's only two weeks left before the end of June, and 1MDB will definitely be unable to produce the freshly audited accounts by then,"

PAC had queried a Finance Ministry official on the matter at its 1MDB hearing on Wednesday, who was unable to justify why the audit had not been done.

Nur Jazlan also clarified that PAC was not fully satisfied with 1MDB auditor Deloitte's explanation on Wednesday as there were differing opinions as to how the auditing firm came to its conclusion on 1MDB's accounts for the year ending Mar 31, 2014.